Frederick Chase vs The World
by pjfan01
Summary: In an AU, branching off of my main story, Percy tries to understand Athena's past in order to deal with her in the present. Hephaestus then tells him the story of Frederick Chase, her husband, and how the gods voted to divorce them without either of their consent, and his choice in the decision. Rated T for slight discussion of suggestive themes and strong language.


Frederick Chase vs. The World

Note: While there are no direct suggestive themes, there is language about them, so read at your own risk. This takes place before my other, longer story, which is takes place in an alternate timeline, so if you're confused, you can take a look at that.

"So, explain to me again what happened," said Percy.

"It's not really a day I like to remember," said Hephaestus, sighing. "I kind of made a bad decision that day."

"You can make up for it by telling me," said Percy. "I need to understand Athena's past."

Hephaestus nodded. "Here, I invented this device. It showcase the memory which needs to be presented. We can watch it on here."

"Very well," said Percy. "Show me."

It was a pretty normal day outside- nothing really interesting had gone on, but Fred had a bad feeling that something was outside the door. He clenched the celestial bronze knife which Athena had given and quietly opened the door, inching it forwards ever so slowly.

Nothing was there. He shook his head- he should've known better. Athena had told him she'd put a protection spell on the house, and that no monster could reach him, except if it were super powerful.

"And if that were true?" he had asked skeptically.

"Then it would seem like a natural disaster, and our house wouldn't be the one targeted," said Athena, smiling. "Besides, nothing's going to happen. You worry too much!"

But he figured that he did not worry too much. Considering the fact he had managed to marry a virgin goddess, he figured just about anything was possible. And so, when he went to bed, he tried to keep his ears open as much as he could.

"ATHENA!"

He woke with a start. He jumped out of bed, grabbing the nearest thing to him, a wrench, and silently sneaking out to a conveniently placed laundry pile outside of his children's bedroom. He lay there in wait of whatever monster was walking down the hallway.

A man walked down, holding a large spear at his side. He walked with pride; his head held high and a permanent scowl addressing his face. He looked around, sensing that no one was home. But he was wrong- the door in front of him flung open and a little boy walked out.

"What do you want wit Mommy?" asked the boy angrily. He held in his hands a Lego sword, wielding it as a weapon.

The man stopped and considered the boy, and then smiled. "Mommy? Oh, this is too good. By way of Olympian law, I have the right to take Athena's child into custody because it's an illegitimate child… this'll be the biggest embarrassment-

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY FAMILY, BITCH!" shouted Fred, wielding the wrench with dire accuracy. Once, twice, three times did the man fall back under the ferocity of Fred's might, a frown falling upon his face. Fred grabbed the knife nearby in his other hand, his son, Alex, all the while watching his dad with utter fascination. He, in mock salute, held the Lego sword to his face. Fred silently wished his son were afraid, and that he would go crying back into his room where he was safe.

The man held Fred's arm. "Who in Hades are you?"

"You come into my house," breathed Fred heavily, "and you have the audacity to ask _me_ that question?"

"If I have the situation correctly nailed, you've been living with a virgin goddess, which is not something I'd say is very legal in Olympian law," said the man. "But I will introduce myself: I'm Ares, god of war."

"And what, you're sour because she beat you in Troy?" asked Fred mockingly.

Ares fumed. "I'm going to skewer you now to end this."

Fred again came at Ares vehemently with the wrench, but this time he was faster and more prepared. Ares, who had been expecting to receive a fight with a 40 year old man now saw that Fred's power didn't exactly match his looks. But his egotistical miscalculation was too late. Soon Fred brought a knife into Ares' stomach, repeating this until he was covered in ichor. The wounded god fell to the ground, defeated, and he desperately grabbed at a button on his watch, and shouted, "HELP!"

Fred surveyed his work, a proud smile arising on his face. He had managed to defeat the war god in battle- that was a pretty big accomplishment for a 40 year-old. He then frowned, realizing that he now had a half-dead war god to take care of, who would probably hate him forever.

Ares groaned for awhile while Fred thought, but his train of thought was finally broken by a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" called Fred nervously.

"I'm coming in," said the man. "Emergency."

He busted open the door- Fred recognized him at once. No other Greek god besides Hermes carried a caduceus.

"Uh… Hermes," said Fred, looking down at Ares. "It's a pleasure to… meet you." He coughed haphazardly.

Hermes stared at the moaning Ares, a blank look on his face. "Dude, how the Hell- never mind, why did you beat up Ares?"

"He attacked my family!" said Fred, pointing the door in which his two children lay. "When my child came out, he said that he would take him away. I couldn't let that happen."

"And why-

"HE RAPED ATHENA!" shouted Ares, crawling over to Hermes knees. "Oh, Hermes, it was terrible, I heard the whole story. You see, Athena was too embarrassed to tell us all, poor soul-

"Right," said Fred. "I, a mortal, raped the goddess of wisdom and warfare. Twice. And subsequently raised the two kids that came out of that."

"Eh?" asked Ares. "Wait, there were two?"

Hermes thought for a minute. "I don't generally think of you as the justice type of guy, Ares," said Hermes. "I'm more likely to believe this guy."

Ares groaned in pain. "Look at him, Hermes. He has the face of a monster!"

Hermes looked at Fred. "No. He had the face of a college professor, if you ask me. Not exactly monster material."

"You'd believe him over me?" asked Ares.

"Seriously, fuck you, dude!" said Fred, kicking Ares in the face.

"I mean, judging by the fact that Hephaestus tried and failed to-

"HEPHAESTUS WAS A CRIPPLE!" shouted Ares angrily.

"An immortal cripple," noted Hermes. He turned to Fred. "Yeah, no, don't worry, I don't believe this chump. But I'm afraid when you… uh… you know, that was against the Olympian Law. You have to stand trial."

Fred thought for a moment. "Will my kids be safe?"

"Yeah," said Hermes. "They will be."

"Take me away," said Fred.

Fred found himself in a waiting room a second after Hermes snapped his fingers. Ares, who was recovering, began to pull himself up from the floor, glaring at Fred with pure hatred.

"We'll have to call a security council meeting," said Hermes.

"Wait, they have that?" asked Fred.

"Yeah," said Hermes. "It's basically all of the gods born before Zeus had any children, except for Hephaestus. So that's Demeter, Hera, Zeus, Poseidon, Hephaestus, and Aphrodite."

"Okay," said Fred. He racked his brains for information on Athena's various dealings with these gods.

Hermes soon had called the council and they met in the Olympian court room. Fred was amazed by how large the gods were- when Athena was with him she always took a form that was equal to him in height, and she barely ever did anything to intimidate him. He figured these guys, however, were trying that just now.

"FREDERICK CHASE!" boomed Zeus's voice. "YOU HAVE BROKEN THE OLYMPIAN COURT'S LAWS!"

"No one told me I couldn't marry Athena," said Fred calmly.

Zeus squinted at him, his voice lowering. "You dare feign ignorance?"

"Yeah," said Fred. "She didn't tell me until we had our first kid. It would've been kind of hard to explain why she had the baby three days after conception without revealing to me she was a goddess."

"You have two children?" he asked in utter horror.

"Yeah," said Fred. "I guess that makes you my father in law?"

Hermes facepalmed himself. Zeus grumbled angrily. "You dare to act as if you have done nothing wrong, but I am immortal. You have no right-

"Right, I have no right," said Fred. "Because when this asshole here," he said, pointing at Ares, "barges down my door, and then threatens to take away my children and try to kill me, that doesn't give me a right to be angry."

"Is this true, Ares?" asked Zeus.

"All lies, sir!" said Ares, bowing to Zeus. "Father, this man would dare to claim that my poor sister willingly lived with him for four years!"

"Because you care so much about family," muttered Hermes.

Ares glared at him, then reverting back to the fake crying. "I was consumed with a sense that I had to protect my family, even while usurping the court. I may have wrongly determined that Athena was not married to this man, but-

"Oh, give it a break," said Demeter, interrupting Ares. "We all know you just wanted to piss Athena off. Go away."

"Sister!" said Zeus angrily. "Please, hold your-

"He's a little bitch!" said Demeter angrily. "I say we drop him from the council entirely until he learns his manners!"

"Aunty!" said Ares, looking insulted.

"Aunty?" laughed Fred. Again, Ares gave him the death glare. Fred spat out his tongue.

"Lord Zeus, no offense, but I feel insulted by your accusations," said Fred. "Athena may have been a virgin goddess, but she willingly married me. I knew of her past; she told me, but that didn't mean I was about to leave her. She's the love of my life, and I felt insulted when some outsider to our family simply came and said, 'no, this cannot happen'. If you want to hold back your own daughter, that's a little bit like Kronos eating his own children."

Zeus grumbled. "Yeah, never heard that one before."

"And you're definitely not gaining respect for this guy," whispered Demeter. "None at all."

Zeus glared at her. "Fine! We have heard both sides of the argument- now let us vote on whether you should live or not! You need only receive 3 votes to live."

Fred watched as Aphrodite pushed a button, then Demeter, and then Zeus.

"You will be allowed to live," said Zeus.

"Thank you, sir," said Fred, bowing.

The hint of a smile played around Zeus' lips. "I do what is fair." Demeter rolled her eyes. "That's not what happened when he formed the council," she whispered, pointing at his chair. Zeus ignored her.

"Now we must vote on whether you can stay married to Athena," said Zeus.

"Wait, what?" asked Fred.

"It is one thing for the council to forgo a punishment," said Zeus. "It is an entirely different matter for the council to amend a law. We will begin voting-

"Wait!" said Fred. "I haven't had a chance to speak my case!"

"Eh?" asked Zeus. "Well… I guess you have that right. Go ahead."

Fred looked at Aphrodite, and then nodded. He figured she would vote in his favor, though he had beaten up her lover. She was the goddess of love anyways, and she was smiling at him. He next looked to Demeter. He wasn't sure about her.

"Lady Demeter," said Fred. "You understand that change is necessary, being the goddess of the harvest. Crop rotation-

"None of that bull," said Demeter. "The council must stick with some things, and this is one of them. I'm willing to defend your life because it's not your fault… and because Ares is a little asshole. But your marriage truly breaks the law."

He looked to Zeus, who frowned at him. He figured that would not be a winning situation. Then, he turned to Hera, who smiled, and in turn stated, "I do what makes my children happy, Mr. Chase."

He glared at Poseidon.

"Erm, are you threatening me?" asked Poseidon.

"Maybe I am," said Fred, his arms crossed. "I took Ares. I can take you."

"The only reason you took Ares is because he's an egotistical brat," said Poseidon.

"Thanks, guys," said Ares. "Feeling the love here."

"I too am not feeling the love because of someone," said Fred, glaring at him. "So get over it."

Finally, Fred turned to Hephaestus, who gazed happily off into the distance. He figured the cripple of Olympus would take pity on him, despite his past experiences with Athena.

"In order to win, you must receive a 4-2 favor," said Zeus. "Voting starts now."

First Aphrodite voted, and then Demeter. Next Zeus, then Hera. The vote came to Poseidon, and yet Zeus announced nothing.

"Well, that's too bad," said Hephaestus, getting up from his chair. "I'll be off now, so-

"Hephaestus, we're not done voting," said Zeus, a bit perplexed.

"Eh?" he asked. "But I thought he lost. Demeter voted against."

"Yes," admitted Demeter.

"You did too, Zeus," he said.

"Yes," said Zeus.

"And Poseidon-

"No," said Poseidon. "I didn't."

Hephaestus froze, drops of sweat beginning to run down his face.

"Hephaestus," muttered Poseidon. "You are fucking with me. You're actually going to vote against?"

Hephaestus began to shiver. "I… I have to go by council law!"

"Son!" said Hera angrily. "Think about your sister, and this poor man!"  
"You threw me off Olympus, mom!" said Hephaestus accusingly. "Don't even talk to me about it! And you, Aphrodite, you cheated on me! And Poseidon, well, you owe me for setting Ares free that one time! You asked for it yourself! And why does he get to marry Athena when I didn't all those years ago?"

"Hephaestus, you told me last week that you think that was a bad decision," said Hermes, "and that Athena is more like a sister to you."

Hephaestus shivered. "I have to do… what's right by the law, man!"

Fred looked him in the eyes, a glare on his face. "Seriously, bro? You're gonna do this to me?"

Hephaestus pounded on a button in front of him, and Zeus's voice boomed in the courtroom. "We've reached a decision! You may never see Athena again!"

Fred stared at the floor as Hephaestus ran off from the room, apparently mulling over whatever moral reservations he had in his head. "Hey," said Hermes. "It'll be okay, bro. I'll take you back home."

"I don't even get to see her?" asked Fred.

"No," said Zeus. "If that were allowed, you might do something rash."

Fred sighed. "Alright, Hermes. Take me home."

Hermes and Fred arrived back at the home they had left only about an hour ago.

"Sorry, Fred," said Hermes. "I think the full council would have voted for you-

"No," said Fred. "I don't think so. Ares and Artemis would've been against me. All it would have taken was one more vote."

Hermes sighed. "Yeah… well, uh… sorry. I guess this is goodbye, huh?"

He left Fred to sit on his couch. The man approached the door to his children's room and found Alex playing with Legos. He picked up a baby girl in his arms, his youngest- Annabeth, and brought her and Alex into the living room to sit.

"Daddy," asked Alex, "what happened to Mommy?"

"She'll be away for awhile," said Fred. "But it's okay- we'll see her again soon."

He tried to hold back his tears, but he couldn't.

"I know she will, daddy," said Alex, patting his father on the back.

"Holy shit," said Percy. "That's… one of the saddest things I've ever heard."

"Yeah," said Hephaestus. "If you really want to learn more, ask Hermes. But I think the takeaway from this is; as much as you may want to hate Athena, Percy, try not to. She had a hard time between that and her experiences with Amphitrite, which I'm sure you've heard."

"Yes," said Percy solemnly. "I realize."

"The gods are a messed up bunch, Percy," said Hephaestus. "We're not worse than Kronos, but we need help. As you can see from that, Ares went so far as to try and kill, then frame Fred. And I… I don't know what I would have done if the first vote had come down to me, but I think if I had killed that man I would have never been able to live with myself. But you're a fresh new slate, Percy- I think you can change Olympus, make it better. Promise me you'll try."

"I promise," said Percy.


End file.
